Jeff Bezos Stepping Down as Amazon CEO, Will Transition to Executive Chair
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos will be abdicating his CEO post in the third quarter of 2021, and will be replaced by the head of the company’s cloud computing unit, Andy Jassy.
Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994, will transition to the executive chairman of the company’s board, where he says he will focus on “new products and early initiatives.” Although Bezos did not reveal his reason for stepping down, he did note that he has no plans to retire. Instead, the move will grant him more time to focus on his other initiatives, including the Bezos Earth Fund, the Washington Post, and his Blue Origin aerospace firm.
Bezos first founded Amazon in 1994 from the his garage in Seattle, and has since become one of the world’s most wealthiest persons. Jassy joined Amazon in 1997, and has been the head of the company’s Web Services since its inception.
The announcement was made just as Amazon reported its first $100 billion quarter, after sales jumped 44% from the third quarter amid a pandemic-related surge in online shopping. The company’s earnings per share soared to $14.09, which is nearly double that of analysts’ projections.
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